NI enterprise zone cost £3m and has one tenant

Only one business is currently located at the site, which takes up eight of the 20 acres available

Northern Ireland's only enterprise zone has cost ratepayers £3m and attracted one tenant, the BBC has learned.

The Atlantic Link site, near Coleraine, is the responsibility of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

It was announced in 2014 and opened in 2017. Only one business is currently located at the site, which takes up eight of the 20 acres available.

Assembly member Claire Sugden said it was a "wasted opportunity so far" and work was needed to promote the site.

"It is clear that everybody involved needs to step up their efforts in order that this asset is not wasted," she said.

'Put weight into it'

Democratic Unionist Party councillor Aaron Callan said it had been a "frustrating time" with the enterprise zone but he believed "it was never going to be a silver bullet".

"It had to be a mix of economic assets that would deliver jobs and investment for the area," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"We, the council, are not the only partner in this, there is the university, there is Invest NI and others that need to come in behind this project.

"There needs to be more willingness to put weight into it".

It was thought the enterprise zone would target the telecommunications industry

Enterprise zones are designated areas which offer tax incentives and simplified planning procedures to help attract businesses to a specific area.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council entered into a 125-year lease with the Ulster University in the development of the Atlantic Link enterprise campus.

The council's role is to promote the site through a development brief to prospective businesses, investors and developers.

Since 2015, the council has spent £3m on the enterprise zone. That figure includes the purchase of the site and connection to all the main utilities.

It was thought the enterprise zone would target the telecommunications industry, as it is located very near a landing point of a transatlantic fibre optic cable.

The site's anchor tenant Prescient Data Centres, formerly 5NINES, opened in 2018 but remains the only tenant to date.

Ultimately the number of businesses that can operate from the site depends on the size of each company.

'Sound financial return'

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council said following their investment of £3m, it secured a £20m investment from Prescient Data Centre as the anchor tenant on site.

"The council is required to ensure that it secures a sound financial return in any asset release," the spokesperson said.

"The prime objective in providing this opportunity is for council to secure quality development that brings this opportunity site into viable and sustainable economic use."

A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy said the "lead responsibility for the development and marketing of the campus sits with the council as landowners".

They said the department's role was to ensure the site was developed by the council in a way which would attract capital intensive companies.

When the Coleraine zone was announced by then Chancellor George Osbourne, the key attraction was expected to be the 100% capital allowance for plant and equipment.

That means companies opening on the site would be able to deduct the value of the capital item from profits before paying tax.

Northern Ireland previously had enterprise zones in Belfast and Londonderry in the 1980s, but there were doubts about their effectiveness.

Critics said they mainly led to existing businesses shifting location rather than bringing in new business.